A Seawall For All

Vancouver’s winding waterfront path is ideal for walking, cycling, jogging—or just people-watching

- Violet St. Clair

My mother blessed me with an abiding love of Canada and its stunning variety of land, water and people. Although I have enjoyed travelling to many places in the world, Canada's abundant natural beauty and mosaic of cultures is dazzling.

One of my delights is to visit my son Stephen in Vancouver, where I get to enjoy endless days spent along the Seawall.

Completed in 1980, it is surely one of Vancouver’s best treasures, as well as a magnet that draws people from all over to meet and greet by the water. So grab a coffee, find a bench and enjoy the show!

English Bay provides a shifting and kaleidoscopic backdrop. Gigantic freighters anchor and await their turn at dock. Sailboats, kayaks, paddle boarders and small cabin cruisers fill the empty spaces between these monoliths. Small ferry taxis, cute as bugs, dart back and forth from shore to shore. Once in a while, a flock of geese will glide silently by in single file, watchful and slightly bemused. Add a few seagulls keening and careening and, voilà, you have a moment worthy of a Monet painting.

Early morning practices by rowing teams complete the tableau experience, and on particularly calm and quiet Sunday mornings, the commands of the coxswain drift across the waters.